Moral Theory (PHIL 860) The Philosophy of Bernard Williams

Bernard Williams was one of the most original and incisive philosophers of our time. The seminar will study some of his most important and most intriguing works. At least half the course will focus on Williams’s critiques of traditional moral theoretic traditions. Assignments will include his portion of Utilitarianism: For and Against, “Persons, Character, and Morality, “ “Moral Luck,” Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, “Internal and External Reasons,” and “The Makropulos Case.”